Training - it's not just for staff

How much does your company spend on training? OK, that’s a fairly ordinary question and no doubt it will have created a spectrum of responses. Well, I say spectrum, whereas I mean about three.

Well how about this then? Who does your company spend their time and money on training? Chances are, like most sensible companies, the people that you train are your own staff. That would seem to be the smart thing to do.

Indeed, at Merchandise Mania we even set up a training programme where staff could learn about the procedures in play in other departments. It’s an effective programme, because by learning just how much work someone else in your company has to do on a daily basis, you can gain more appreciation for the fact that the favour you asked them to do four hours ago hasn’t been done yet!

But I’ve come to realise that there is a whole group of people that we never really take the time to train. I’m not talking about getting in training companies, setting up seminars or correspondence courses. No, I’m talking about the simple imparting of information which would enable them to do their jobs and communicate more effectively.

Have you figured out who I’m referring to? That’s right (unless you got it wrong), I’m talking about your customers. In a world where knowledge is power, have you ever stopped to think about just how much your customers don’t know about how things work in your organisation?

Seriously, if I had a pound for everyone that called me in the second week of December asking for stuff before Christmas then I could happily fly off somewhere warm. I’m sure you have similar stories but have you ever stopped to consider that it might actually be your fault?

What if, the last time that client ordered from you, you gave them a special price or delivered the goods early or some other ‘extra mile’ gesture. Did you tell them that what they’d received was NOT the norm? Oh sure, good customer service should come with every order but if your very first deal with them was at a discounted price, what’s to make them think that they can’t get a discount from you every time they order?

As for deliveries, if something usually takes 3 weeks and you did it in 3 days, did you point out the extraordinary lengths that you went to in order to make that happen, or did you just tell them it was “all part of the service”?

Your customers need to be trained on how things work around there. Their demands are not unrealistic because history has shown them that you can work miracles when you really have to, so they now expect miracles every single time.

The result? A client that, whilst you’re grateful for their business, you regard much more as a hindrance than a help. It is within your power to change things – you just have to level with them. “I’m delighted that we were able to shrink the lead time on these by so much but please do bear in mind that this was the exception and not the rule. When you’re looking to place your next order, please make sure you leave a little bit more time – or better yet, why not order twice as many and rest easy, knowing that you have enough?

The next blog will be on Christmas Eve – yes we will be here and working hard. Well, I say hard……..well, I say working….